How do you protect your children from getting sucked into and brainwashed by this?

That sounds very sensible.

I think treating these issues in the same way we treat religious ones has helped. So my children have learned to be polite to those who have these beliefs, to understand that people often have different beliefs, and that they are under no obligation to share those beliefs, nor believe everything they're told.

I hope I've encouraged them to ask questions they never seem to bloody stop and test ideas out from different angles.

My DD7 sadly has a best friend whose mum is an extremely vocal TWAW ally...

Thought I had a few more years until I needed to worry, except last week, DD came out with "Molly (not real name!)'s Uncle Charlie isn't a boy or a girl, he's in between!" 🙄🙄🙄

Cue me... "Well, that's a bit strange as there are only boys and girls..." And then telling the story of when we found out DD was a girl and her brother was a boy...

Our primary school did the diversity week and they had "they can be any gender they feel" part but I haven't seen it come up again in the next few years.

My DS10-11 had friendship group in Y5-6 where one girl decided she was transboy. My DS being "bright academic" swallowed up gender ideology quickly (even learnt word TERF!) to support his friend and did fighting on his friends behalf. Then he and his other supportive friend decided they were non-binary and made up new names for themselves (didn't ask school to enforce).

Me and my DH tried not to make fuss, just focused on keeping communication open.

Turns out this trans friend had lots of serious problems at home without going into detail. Latest I heard is secondary school affirming the child and then family disappeared out of the area.

Now DS is 14 and he is all "I can't believe I was thinking this!"

I agree 100% you have to be able to chat with them about this issue before someone else does. And someone else will. I try really hard not to influence my DS's thinking as he's entitled to form his own opinions on things. But I do make sure he understands the facts and I let him draw his own conclusion. He thinks people need to be helped to feel happy in their own body and accept who they are. As no matter what you do, your DNA can't be changed and you will never actually be the other sex or anything in between. So learning to accept who you are is the only way to not live a lie. And he doesn't think people can ever be truly happy living a lie.

Send them to a school where the kids are more concerned about where there next meal will come from. Dealing with actual life issues leaves less time for navel gazing.

Sad fact is my kids go to school with many pupils in this situation and the ones in care with difficult home lives are sometimes the ones most caught up in it all.

I do think the schools kicked it off many years ago with a series of assemblies we weren't told about prior and soem very confused sex ed - 6-7 years ago and did feel very top down though that changed with time - then it was their friends so be kind kicks in now welsh government seems captured.

Though you see flashes - the scathing comments about the pink sport equipment to encourage girls in sports and how patronising that is. The zeitgeist does seem to be on the turn -though I still worry for them you have to hope you got them asking questions and critically thinking about things.

@caringcarer it's heartwarming to hear of young men & teens who can totally see & comprehend what's happening... The tide will surely turn to a point where it's seriously uncool to be woke.

He and his gf both play at county level and he recognises she does essentially the same training as him but his gf is a fast bowler but nowhere near the pace of average male pace bowlers. He would be furious if his gf had to play against male players with female names as he calls them. He now refuses to wear NIKE in solidarity with his gf and other female friends and is quite vocal telling other players in his team they should also support female athletes. He says if men don't speak out in support of female athletes then female sport will become a thing of the past.

?🙄mine field

Teaching them to be sound critical thinkers is the best way to navigate through the mind field of gender.
DS is 18 and has been studying A level psychology which covers how individuals can sometimes feel overwhelmed by group opinion rather than developing their own opinion. He is also quite knowledgeable about gender identity and is comfortable with those who are not at one with their gender but he doesn’t buy into trans women are women.
They have a trans girl in their year who has been gender fluid since yr7. School have handled it really well, primarily by not involving parents so the children have been able to make up their own minds. They have been accepting and kind without having to come out as gender warriors. There is a lot of “you do you”, they accept her choice but reserve the right to have their own opinion. She is not interested in creating a problem, she just wants to dress as a girl and is part of a large girl friendship group. I doubt any of them would protest actively for the trans movement but would be happy to live in harmony as they have done for the last 7 yrs.
They have explored the gender issue as a group in a real life situation without the influence of adults trying to explain. I think they are far more mature about the issue than we are. By seeing a pier go through the struggle with gender ID they are not likely to be indoctrinated by the whole hysterical gender movement, most of whom met their first trans gender person at Uni.
I know that DS would be able to debate the issue without being unkind or disrespectful. But he would advocate for women over transwomen every time.

@caringcarer good on him. I hope my dc grow up with the same critical thinking skills. Good observation recognising all the work his female friends are putting in with their sports & men are still infiltrating their spaces.

I don't know what I've said or done by my child is very against transwomen in female sports. He is very competitive and very sporty with lots of female friends who participate in a lot of sport. He's now refusing to buy NIKE sports wear and regularly tells me it is unfair of men to try to dominate female sport. He recognises his female friends work just as hard at training as he does so expects they should compete against other females.

@JaninaDuszejko thank you so much, great points & you sound like a wonderful clued in mum. I think being clued in & knowing exactly what's going down is half the battle.

1. Don't have autistic children (autistic children are much more likely to identify as trans)
2. Don't be homophobic (gay children in homophobic households are much more likely to identify as trans)
3. Make sure your children aren't abused (victims of abuse are much more likely to have gender dysphoria/body dysmorphia and therefore identify as trans)

Those are the three things that have the biggest impact on if children identify as trans. I'd also say have the kind of household where issues are debated so they are happy to have discussions about political issues. Value nuance and question all black and white views on all issues (my kids hate this but it is beginning to seep through). Model gender non-conforming behaviour, and question their assumptions about gender stereotypes. Let toys be toys. Encourage habits that improve good mental health so healthy eating, lots of physical activity, lots of real life social interactions. Minimise mirrors in the house. Delay then minimise social media.

When they are older (my DDs are teenagers) be aware that your child may well have trans identifying friends and so don't use language they might find hateful but concentrate on safety concerns. We've spoken about the damage binders can do to developing breast tissue and the long term impact of puberty blockers on intelligence and sexual function, the impact of testosterone has on the female body and what a big operation a double mastectomy is and I've explained that mothers are don't want children to make decisions that have long term impacts they can't appreciate yet (while saying clearly that adults have the choice. Although they also know I think cosmetic surgery is not a good thing). We've also talked about toilets and what the best solution is to allow everyone to feel comfortable - we agree on having a third space. We've spoken about Dylan Mulveney and the fuss about their advertising contracts and what we think is fuelled by transphobia and what we think is a reasonable concern. I tell them how happy I am that we can talk about these issues and how important it is to listen to the reasonable voices on both sides and constantly question your own views.

Send them to a school where the kids are more concerned about where there next meal will come from. Dealing with actual life issues leaves less time for navel gazing.

That's an excellent way of looking at it almost reverse psychology in a way! Just like my niece says pronouns are so last year & are seen as uncool in the teen generation now!

Pmsl 😂yes we will be quoting MishiMD in 20 years time when this current generation is the next "me too" generation & all the law suits inevitably kick in.. They're already starting.

This.
I'm entitled to my opinions, they're entitled to theirs.

I guess it depends on the child. Case by case basis in what works with different personalities. From being tiny, I’ve always taught my children to ignore gender stereotypes and I’ve let them follow whatever interests they want to follow. My eldest (boy) now year 8 seems very comfortable with his identity. He has a really lovely secure friendship group who all seem to be of the same mindset as him - they see the gender agenda as very mainstream and they want to be different so that’s a bonus. It’s certainly not every teenager who buys into the whole gender business. Against that backdrop I made sure I got in first with the trans chat and said I was totally cool if he wanted to change his name and wear a dress. Of course like any self respecting teenager as soon as I’d normalised it and made it sound boring he immediately rolled his eyes and told me I was being extremely cringey. In other words, by getting in there first I didn’t given him anything to rebel against or shock me with. That’s works for us though because he’s basically secure in his identity and I knew he wouldn’t take up my ‘offer’. I hope though he knows he can always talk to me about any worries he has, should any come up. I’d rather he feels he can talk to me first than having to start Googling this stuff.
My youngest is only in year 5 so still plenty of time for things to change but at the moment she’s very black and white. I’ve given her a basic précis of the situation and for the time being she’s in full on GC mode. To the extent that on a recent form she brought home from school she crossed out the word gender and replaced it with sex. I worry she’s going to have to tone it down a bit or I think she might get bullied at secondary school.

Being trans is not catching. Rapid onset infection is a total myth spread by interviewing trans hostile parents. It's really not something you need to worry about.

Well, that's that settled! I'm sure MishiJDI off of Mumsnet knows better than the President of WPATH. https://thepostmillennial.com/president-of-leading-trans-org-admits-social-contagion-is-driving-surge-in-kids-identifying-as-transgender

@GingerPushkin thanks for the warning but I started watching South park over 20 years ago - used to come home from a summer job late and watch it to unwind before bed.

I have seen odd episodes in last few years when caught it channel flipping - just a blind spot that it hadn't occurred to me that they are old enough to watch it now.

@TripleDaisySummer just be aware that south park is pretty politically incorrect but it takes a swipe at everyone. it's very funny, no compromises and that's presumably why it's weathered cancel culture- it's too well-liked (too lucrative)! lots on it that shouldn't be repeated so kids need a certain amount of social maturity to understand that. but it sounds like yours are older/in high school?
and yes, in the end you just have to trust that they'll navigate through.
As you say, they may well have friends/acquaintances who are invested in trans stuff. my son's into skateboarding and it can be a pretty woke culture- eg female-only skater nights and competitions which, of course, are open to boys/men in dresses (makes me fume!!). son thinks that very unfair but understands the need to tread carefully. he has gay friends who aren't immersed in gender ideology which i think is great.
my daughter says several kids in her class- 13-14 yr olds- have questioned gender ideology in phse lessons recently. all very hopeful, especially for those with younger children.

South parks interesting - just found we have it with a subscription we have - and kids have all heard of it but not seen any.

I've laid a firm foundation of love of science and understanding of natural history / biology. The eldest is also naturally in love with history. So it allows some early discussion around evolution, evidence, and with the older one facts and truth. Sources etc. debate.

All this.

Later on books -1984, handmaid tale- wild swans, Invisible Women - stuff that shows world gone mad or provokes questions.

Allowing clothes toy choices despite sex and have attitude it's not a big deal-the world can make this harder DGP and schools and other kids.

Watch what is beings in youth groups and school - where it came from with my DC. Probably also make sure sex ed at home is clear - as y6 stuff was confusing with gay/lesbian/trans thrown in with where babies come from.

Accept it is in their peer groups - may be their friends even - though moving for education 6th form/uni can help adjust groups - don't argue against stuff where possible ask questions and point out right clashes/issues and ask more questions- and hope they come out unscathed and slightly more cynical.